


Is Caring

by yeaka



Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms, The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Established Relationship, Ficlet, M/M, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-04
Updated: 2015-02-04
Packaged: 2018-03-10 10:08:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3286397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeaka/pseuds/yeaka
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bilbo belatedly catches on to the strange dynamics going on about him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Is Caring

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Fill for anon’s “Spouse Sharing” request on [The Hobbit Kink Meme](http://hobbit-kink.livejournal.com/13429.html?thread=24572533#t24572533).
> 
> Disclaimer: I don’t own The Hobbit or any of its contents, and I’m not making any money off this.

When the journey first started, Bilbo didn’t even notice it—there are so _many_ of them, after all, and they’re so very big and noisy and something’s almost always going on, even when they’re just sitting down to eat or sleep. It’s several weeks into their quest when Bilbo actually notices anything out of the ordinary, or what he’d consider ordinary for his depiction of big, noisy dwarves, anyway. He winds up around a campfire with his back to the big rock they’re hiding behind, and Balin takes a seat beside him, Kíli and Ori coming to his other side. They start off talking about inane things like food and tools and Dwarven fairytales, and then they devolve into hushed laughter and whispered compliments and, finally, Ori twisting little braids into Kíli’s long hair. 

Bilbo, who tends to spend his down time either thinking of home or learning of dwarves, asks Balin in a hushed voice, “What are they doing?” Bilbo tries hard not to stare, and none of the other dwarves are paying the smallest two any attention, but out the corner of his eye, Bilbo can still them occasionally nuzzling their noses together. By the time Balin’s turned from his open scroll to look at Bilbo, Kíli’s pecked Ori on the cheek and Ori’s wrapped his arms around Kíli’s shoulders. 

Balin says so simply, “Oh, they’re married, don’t mind them.” Bilbo sits up straighter, startled, and realizes that they’re _kissing_ now, their thick fingers running through each other’s hair and tugging at each other’s clothes, and they only stop when Kíli decides to return the favour of putting a little braid in Ori’s beard. 

Balin gives one of his big, friendly smiles, and Bilbo returns it faintly, still shocked that they’ve gone this long and he’s never noticed. It never occurred to him to think of dwarves coupling, and it makes him wonder how many of the thirteen are actually intertwined, and then, with a lonely pang of Bilbo’s little heart, if he’s the only single one there. But of course, there’re thirteen of them, so they can’t all be paired up. He thinks of asking if Balin’s married, but then he decides it would be rude to do so—hobbits, after all, are very respectable and private with their relationships. If Balin does have a special someone, that’s none of Bilbo’s business.

Kíli and Ori, apparently, don’t mind their relationship being everyone’s business. They snuggle like furry forest animals and talk with such fondness in their voices, and a few times Bilbo notices their hands straying to thighs or hips, which always makes him forcibly look away. He supposes it makes sense, in a way—they’re two of the youngest ones, excluding Fíli, with eager personalities but little real experience, both with lightweight things like arrows and books without the huge, hefty axes and swords of the others. They have softer looks, and maybe, in their own Dwarven way, are sort of pretty, at least a little handsome. Not that Bilbo’s ever thought of such things, but if he _were_ attracted to a dwarf, it would probably be Kíli or Ori. Or Fíli or Thorin. Or maybe Bofur, but the point he’s getting at is that the more he sees of them and thinks of them, the more he feels they’re a very cute couple. 

Kíli makes most of the jokes. Ori laughs at them all. And then when Ori tells Kíli wild stories from dusty old volumes, Kíli goes wide-eyed and listens. They sit with one leg over the other, and every so often, Bilbo catches Thorin and Dori glancing fondly at the pair. Apparently, Bilbo was the only one who didn’t know. By the time it grows dark enough to sleep, Bilbo’s decided they’re a thoroughly respectable couple, and any decent hobbit would agree. 

Everyone slumps off to sleeping bags at roughly the same time, though they have to clean up around the fire first—popular discussion decides that keeping a fire through the dark would do more harm than good. Bilbo, at first, would very much like to keep its warmth and light around, but when Dwalin starts to rattle off all the predators it might attract, he quickly changes his mind. Fíli comes back from watch somewhere amidst it all, and Kíli heads off for the next shift. Ori helps Bofur and Nori pack up the food. Bilbo finds as comfy a patch of ground as he can amidst all the trampled grass and hard stone, and he curls up in his sleeping bag between Bombur and Fíli. He decides to sleep mostly facing Fíli, because Bombur snores something fierce. 

Fíli looks as though he’s dropped off to sleep immediately, and Bilbo’s almost there too when another dwarf weaves back through the sleeping piles of Thorin’s company. He settles down between Bilbo and Fíli, squirming with some difficulty into Fíli’s sleeping bag. With his back to Bilbo, Ori cuddles up to Fíli.

And Bilbo lies there, staring through the dark, mystified and disturbed and completely unsure of what to do. 

On the one hand, it’s none of his business, but on the other hand, it’s just his luck to find out about a married couple, only to discover a wild affair just a short while later. To make matters worse, he knows Kíli and Ori about the same and has no idea who to side with. It might be best to run off and tell Kíli immediately, or perhaps he should give Ori the benefit of the doubt and assume this is all some big misunderstanding. Perhaps, in all the commotion, with the fire out and the sky as dark as it is, Ori doesn’t realize just who he’s climbed in bed with. Fíli and Kíli’s supplies are, after all, much the same. Nori or Bofur or even Bifur might look to start trouble, but not Ori. The longer Bilbo squints at Ori’s back, curled, presumably, around Fíli’s body, the more Bilbo is sure that in Ori’s sleepy state, he’s just mistook another similarly-shaped dwarf for his husband. 

So Bilbo, finally resolving to be a good companion, whispers, “Ori!”

Ori, at first, doesn’t move at all, so Bilbo wriggles his hand out from under his blanket and tentatively pokes Ori’s back, right between the shoulder blades. Ori squirms immediately and glances over his shoulder, mumbling tiredly, “Oh, Bilbo. Yes?”

“That’s Fíli,” Bilbo hisses, sure he saw it right, even as he blushes for his intrusion. Ori’s eyebrows knit together, expression appropriately confused.

“I know.”

“Oh.” _Oh._ Bilbo blinks. Then he’s blushing furiously, wondering how in the world Ori can say it so _easily_ , look Bilbo right in the eye and just admit it, when he knows he’s done wrong. “But... but I thought...” Searching for the right words, Bilbo finally blurts, “I thought you were married to Kíli.”

“I am.” 

For the first time in his life, Bilbo wishes he had Lobelia around. She would say something to put Ori in his place, whereas Bilbo is just tongue tied, lost and uncomfortable and thoroughly wishing he’d kept his nose out of other people’s business, but then Ori says so simply, “I’m married to Fíli too, though.” He grins a little through the starlight, adding with a quiet chuckle, “They’re sort of a pair.”

“And excellent at sharing,” Fíli’s voice comes from over Ori’s other side, interspersed with a yawn. Before Bilbo can reply, Fíli suddenly rolls on top of Ori, the sleeping bag stretching to house them both vertically. Ori chuckles as he’s pressed down, his arms wrapping around Fíli’s sides. Fíli snuggles into him just as shamelessly as Kíli did, and he pecks Ori’s lips, then nose, then chin. Ori looks up at Fíli with such adoration that Bilbo can see it, the pair of them, just as bound together as Kíli and Ori were. 

Which leaves Bilbo as a very confused hobbit. And also mildly impressed—Fíli and Kíli hadn’t struck him as the sort of brothers who would be good at sharing. Apparently, they can where it counts. 

Fíli and Ori seem to forget about Bilbo soon enough. They crumble into little kisses and licks and general touching that makes Bilbo burn hot, hot enough that he has to turn around, rolling onto his shoulder to face his other side. Bombur’s snoring seems to magnify, but at least Bombur is sleeping soundly and not, as far as Bilbo can see, wrapped up in any confusing maybe-scandals. 

Bilbo tries not to think about Dwarven relationships, cute couples and open possibilities. He slowly drifts off to whispered I love yous around the back of his skull, joined later by a third voice just as sincere as the rest.


End file.
